Artists bring restaurant manager to tears with grand act of kindness

Chet Green admires the painting of his recently-deceased dog painted by a group of amazingly kind strangers (Source: WMBF News)

Catherine Hodges, Josh Pritchett, and their friends met Chet Green and got talking to him about his dog. (Source: WMBF News)

The group found a picture of Chet's dog on his Facebook page, and got to work. (Source: WMBF News)

The group went out to get supplies for the project. Their friend Rachel stayed up until 3 a.m. painting the picture. (Source: WMBF News)

“They need to know that they forever touched me and changed my life, and I will continue to do what I can to pay it forward, but I can’t imagine paying it forward in such a grand way," Green said. (Source: WMBF News)

PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC (WMBF) - A Pawleys Island restaurant manager is still in shock after an act of kindness from strangers.

Chet Green says he was overwhelmed when a quick conversation at the grocery store, turned into a grand act of kindness.

"It's the truest random act of kindness I've ever been associated with,” Green said. He’s the manager at Bisqit in Pawleys Island, and last weekend, he had to put down his dog, and best friend, Fling

"I don't have any kids, so he was my boy - so it's been hard,” Green said.

Green didn't have much time to cope with the loss because of the busy holiday weekend. On Friday night, he went to the grocery store to buy ice cream for the restaurant. That's when he ran into Catherine Hodges, Josh Pritchett, and their friends.

"We went to Pawleys Island on vacation and we weren't going to eat out to eat because we wanted to save money, but our friend Josh said if we go anywhere, we have to go to this place called Bisqit,” said artist Catherine Hodges. “So we went to the grocery store Friday night to get food to make dinner. And this guy in front of us puts down four of the giant things of ice cream.”

“And I got excited because I love ice cream, and I said ‘This guy’s doing it right,” Pritchett said.

“The guy comments - we should go with this guy - he has ice cream, and I said, ‘I'll put you to work if you come back with me,’” Green said. “And they asked what restaurant, and I said Bisqit, and they laughed and said they planned to go there."

After talking for a while, Green told the group about the loss of his dog. That's when Pritchett got an idea.

"As we walk out in the parking lot, we said, ‘Listen, we have to do something for this guy,’” Pritchett said. “He's in a moment of loss and pain and confusion and he hasn't had time to deal with that and mourn."

"I'm thinking maybe we'll do a card and flowers, and I thought what a great opportunity,” Hodges said. “But then we looked him up on Facebook and we saw pictures of the dog and we said we could paint the dog!”

The group immediately went out to get supplies for the project. Their friend Rachel stayed up until 3 a.m. painting the picture.

The next day, the group showed up at Bisqit with the painting.

"They said, ‘Hey Chet listen, we knew you were hurting, we know you lost your pup, and we felt the Lord put us there at Food Lion so we could do something nice for you and let you know that everything was going to be okay," Green said.

"Immediately he started sobbing and said, How - how did you do this?" Hodges recounted.

Green said he's never seen such a grand act of kindness.

His message to Pritchett and her friends: “They need to know that they forever touched me and changed my life, and I will continue to do what I can to pay it forward, but I can’t imagine paying it forward in such a grand way."

Green posted the story and picture on Facebook to thank his new friends. The post now has hundreds of shares and comments.

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